The members present at the 10 December 2001 meeting elected
the following officers for 2002:
President Tom Roseman
Vice President Bob Huey
Secretary Elaine Riendeau
Treasurer Werner Hueber
MRA Representative Walter Runkle

The members present at the 14 January 2002 meeting elected the
following to the Qualifications Committee for 2002: Mike Myers
Tom Sakai, and Bob Rockwell

We welcomed new members Mike Franklin and David Miles. We
said farewell to Bill and Jeannette Rudy, who got their Navy orders.

All parts should go together without
forcing. You must remember that the parts you are reassembling
were disassembled by you. Therefore, if you can't get them together
again, there must be a reason. By all means, do not use a hammer. --IBM maintenance manual, 1925

Subject outcomes
Found uninjured-5 Found injured-1 Found dead-1 Not found*2 Total=9
5 1 1 2 9
Four of the subjects were found by other teams while we were on
alert or mobilized.
*One was found dead sometime after the initial search; the other
walked out with an injured ankle shortly after the initial search
was halted.

Group data
Callouts 7
Total hours expended 315
NAWC excused hours 0
Total vehicle miles 1575
Average number of members per callout 8.6

The desert at night is a great open-air dome,
the largest bedchamber in the world. --Carlos Fuentes

First Aid CommitteeBy Ellen Schafhauser
Members: Ellen Schafhauser (Chair), Debby Breitenstein, Dr. Bill
Ferguson, Andy Mitchell, Gina Najera-Niesen, Janet Westbrook
The following hours are required in first aid:
a. Four hours of CPR skills, once a year by all members. (Required
by Sheriff's Office.)
b. Four hours of Standard First Aid, once every three years by
all members.
(Required by Sheriff's Office.) This emphasizes wilderness first
aid.
c. Sixteen hours total for Topics A and B of the CLMRG First
Aid Skills Course.
Eight nights, two hours a night, divided into Topics A and B.
(Required by CLMRG for Leaders and Rescue members) It is part
lecture, demonstration of skills, and hands-on practice of skills
and equipment.
Topic B was offered on 3, !0, 24 Apr and 1 May. Because of the
attacks on 9 Sep 01 and the resulting restriction of Base access,
we had two 4-hour search and Topic A scenario trainings on 17
Oct and 24 Oct in town.
American Red Cross CPR Classes were held on 23 May, 23 Aug, 12
Sep, and 20 Dec.

ABOUT THE MEMBERSHIP

Editor: The Group received this e-mail message about
member Elaine Riendeau recently.

Sent: Monday, January 28, 2002 9:49 AM
Subject: baby

Hi all,

Well Elaine went and had that baby, two weeks early, she was
due on 2/12. Of course she had a usually busy day on Sat, she
went running up the college hill (3-4 miles), hung wall paper
(babies room), and went out with the ladies that evening. Towards
the end of the evening she noticed that her water broke, at least
she was hoping that was the case. She got home around 10:00 pm
and told Larry to start packing those bags, she wasn't packed
yet. She got to the hospital and was dilated to 9 cm, only 1
cm to go. She had the baby at 12:26 AM on Sunday Morning. All
went well, 3 hours of labor and she looks great.

Editor: We were saddened to learn of the death of Life Member
Barbara Slates. The following obituary appeared in the 2 January
2002 issue of the News Review. More information in the next Talus
Pile.

Barbara jean Slates of Inyokern died Dec. 26, 2001, in
a traffic accident near her home. She was 70. Graveside services
will be held Wed. Jan 2, 9a.m. at Desert Memorial Park, Ridgecrest.

Ms. Slates was born Oct. 8, 1931 in Ohio. She had a lifelong
love of books and learning and was the first in her family to
attend college. After earning her master's degree in chemistry,
she moved to China Lake in 1957. Here she met Richard Slates whom
she married in 1960.

Both were volunteers for the China Lake Mountain Rescue
Group and participated in rescue operations and group outings.
Richard died in a rescue attempt on Telescope Peak in 1966. Barbara
never remarried, working and raising her four children alone while
continuing to volunteer for CLMRG.

She retired from NWC after 25 years as a chemist and information
specialist. She spent the next years relaxing on her 20-acre ranch
north of Inyokern in the shadows of the mountains she loved so
much. She lived with her daughter Pam, three dogs, three cats
and a horse.

She will be remembered fondly as an honest, independent
woman who treasured the simple things in life, and dedicated herself
to loving her children and her animals.

She is survived by her sons, Michael Slates of Bishop and
Christopher Slates of Auora, CO; daughters Jennifer Date of Ft.
Campbell, KY and Pamela Slates of Inyokern; sister Ruth Kolegar
of Parma, OH, and one gandchild.

ACTIVITIES

Whitney Trail2 December 2001
By Bob Rockwell
At 0915, Mike Myers, Tom Sakai, Eric Toler, Loren Castro, Dan
Bishop, Bob Adams, and I started up from the Road Closed sign
on the Whitney Portal road at elevation 6400'. We carried snowshoes
and expected to use them soon because of dire predictions of snow
depth. Also, we had awakened to rain in Ridgecrest with evil-looking
storm clouds to the north and thought the weather gods might be
really dumping in the Sierra.
But the snow on the road wasn't nearly so bad as we had expected,
and we saw tracks where a few people had driven up. In fact,
as we reached the Portal, a Jeep Cherokee--without chains--passed
us. There was only about 6 inches of snow at the Portal.
We didn't put on snowshoes until over 9000' because the trail
had been beaten down by previous hikers. By then, the snow depth
was about two feet. We all turned around shortly after 1400.
Sakai, Toler, Adams, and Bishop reached Lone Pine Lake (10,000')
while Myers, Castro, and I had to settle for 9,600'. At Lone
Pine Lake, the snow was about three feet deep.
Surprisingly, the hike had started off nice enough with the cloud
bottoms around 10,500' but relatively warm and no wind. Later,
a few flakes began to fall, and by the time we turned around,
the beginning of the storm predicted for the day had begun to
entertain us.
We were back at the vehicles around 1630 and home by 1830. A
good workout: 11 miles round trip and 3600' gain; a little less
for Mike, Loren, and me.

Follow-up Search for "The Germans"Death Valley
4-6 January 2002
By Debbie Breitenstein
I was a member of the original search party in October 1996 (refer
to Operation 96-16 in Talus Pile Number 100 dated February 1997).
The case has been bugging me ever since. I finally decided to
do something about it, so . . .
Linda Finco, Al Green, Tom Roseman, and I left Ridgecrest at noon
on January 4 to search some areas of Anvil Canyon in Southern
Death Valley. (So that you don't have to skip to the end, we
were not fortunate enough to solve this puzzle, so it still beckons.)
I had contacted the park the day before and spoken to two rangers
to let them know what we were doing and to see whether we might
be able to review information on the search. No one had information
at the time, but one woman I spoke with did comment that theories
are many and varied and we need only say the key words "the
four Germans" and everyone would know who and what we were
talking about. We stopped at the Visitor's Center in Furnace
Creek to fill out permits and talk with the rangers. No one with
any history was in attendance, but we were given a point of contact
in case we did locate any evidence. From there, we proceeded
to Warm Springs Canyon to set up camp.
Warm Springs is a wonderful camp, which I very highly recommend
for any future visits. It is sheltered, has the only legal fire
pit in the valley outside of the north campgrounds, has tables,
has warm, natural pools to bathe in, and is smack in the middle
of the canyon. Beautiful spot.
Now to the search: After a solitary Friday night, we headed out
Saturday morning at a decent hour. We decided that we would search
the lower sections of Anvil Canyon in hopes of finding evidence
that has been washed into the brush over the intervening years.
We found a mining road that cuts across the ridges towards Anvil
Canyon. From there, we searched the canyon floor up to and including
Mesquite Springs. The springs were the lowest point our own team
searched back in 1996. The canyon is amazingly clean--no bottles,
1 OLD can, and 1 mylar balloon. I found a tiny birdpoint and
one burro bone. Tom found a recently deceased bobcat, a beautiful
creature with a plush winter coat. It appeared undamaged and
likely died of rabies or a feline distemper or a similar bad sort
of thing. We kept a distance to be safe.
That night, there were new cars at Warm Springs. The first person
we met happened to be Randy Walker's father, Cliff. He was there
helping three other men who were there searching (you guessed
it!) for the Germans. (And then I understood why the rangers
seemed mildly amused by my interest.) These men have been searching
the area regularly for a few years as private citizens. They
are NOT members of any search group but rather people who have
found the case suspicious and have decided to solve it. As citizens,
they have had limited information on the details around the search,
so we did manage to provide them some information to think about.
Meanwhile, they have been consulting psychics, 5 at least, 3
of which had told them that Manson's old gang had been in the
canyon (on cars and motorcycles) and had shot the family and buried
their bodies in various areas.
They had not seen the area until after El Nino had altered the
wash, so we provided them with a few details that altered their
speculations. In particular, there had been no tracks other then
the van, so no one had transported the bodies back out as the
psychics were claiming. Also, they assumed that we had not looked
for graves or searched several of the areas our team spent three
days covering.
A second theory (also proposed by a psychic) was that the Germans
had found a metal object that had been lost from the China Lake
ranges. It was something they weren't supposed to see. This
theory was presented before they knew who we were and where we
were from. We refrained from telling them that we'd have to make
them disappear now.
Other theories were ventured. Currently, some of their group
is convinced that there was foul play and are focusing efforts
on locating evidence, circumstantial and other, that supports
this. See the article Al got from E C Harder (off the web site
listed below) for other thoughts. We spent about an hour beside
Al's fire (he's a great pyromaniac, and we never got cold) discussing
the original search and the various speculations that abound.
On day two, we started our search at the road crossing of Anvil
Wash a few miles below the Canyon opening and worked up west to
where we had started the day before. We found a corkscrew (which
still works fine), a whole burro skeleton, two ancient (need a
church key to open) beer cans, and lots of rocks and flotsam.
On returning to work Monday, Tom found a number of messages on
his office phone from two park rangers. Dave Brenner, the ranger
who originally found the car and works that area of the park,
attempted to give us information on areas that the park service
is still focusing search efforts. Apparently he is still actively
pursuing this case. Additionally, Kyle Nelson, a park law enforcement
ranger, called to make sure we had been contacted in response
to my initial contacts with the park service.
Dave B is planning to search an area to the North of Anvil Canyon.
(At the time of this writing, I have no information on what evidence
might be driving the search in this direction.) It is likely
that we may be invited to assist if anyone else is still interested.
I will keep you updated if there is any new information.
Also, Al received a business card from
E. C. Harder and went to his web site to get the current report
on their search efforts. The report, which was the attachment
in his last e-mail to the Group, may be obtained from http://www.wemweb.com/RealAdventure.
Al has requested to be notified of any newer reports. Tom has
a business card and e-mail address from D. Hasselman of Virginia
who is very interested in the physic part of the search.
For photos of our "expedition," see Al's pictures on
the web: http://photos.yahoo.com/arold999. Open Death Valley
010502

ON THE RUN

Editor: The Over the Hill Track Club (OTHTC)--a popular
local social club--offers and participates in some unusual foot
races each year. These activities seem to appeal to several members
of CLMRG. This is a summary of the racing feats of our members
last year as reported in OTHTC's newsletter THE ROADRUNNER.

OTHTC High Desert 30KRidgecrest, California
9 December 2001
Member Time
Dennis Burge 4:04:22

The race is not always to the swift
nor the battle to the strong, but that's the way to bet.--Damon Runyon

FOUND ELSEWHERE

Editor: The following appeared in the EarthLink Weekly
Email Newsletter of 12 March 2001:thebackpacker.com
http://www.thebackpacker.com/
The next time you're thinking about hitting the trails, stop by
this information-packed backpacking site. You can learn the basics
about clothing, gear, and related subjects; read articles from
other backpackers about their adventures; search a database of
trails to find prime locations in your region; and browse links
to backpacking-related sites. If you register with the site,
you can also participate in discussion forums.

Monday, November 5, 2001 (AP)
Woman electrocuted while climbing 55-foot power pole
(11-05) 12:13 PST RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) -- A woman whose therapist
said she climbed power poles, trees, and freeway overpasses to
feel safe was electrocuted while climbing a
55-foot power pole.
Pam Johnson, 50, who was being treated for a multiple personality
disorder, climbed a power pole Saturday evening and did not respond
to officers who tried to talk her down before she touched the
power line that electrocuted her.
"She was constantly doing this," police Lt. Alex Tortes
said. "They managed to talk her down before. Usually, she
just keeps climbing until she reaches the top. She'd just sit
and then we were able to talk her down."
In April, Johnson was talked down from a power pole by therapist
James Madia, who at that time said she scaled tall objects to
reach safety, not to hurt herself.

Editor: The following information is at URL http://205.156.54.206/er/car/hang/windchill.htm.New wind chill chartThis winter, the National Weather Service and Meteorological
Services of Canada will use a new Wind Chill Temperature Index
designed to calculate a more accurate reading of how the cold
air feels on the human skin.
Since 1945, the United States and Canada have used an index, which
relied on observed winds 33 feet above the ground and focused
on how fast the cold temperatures combined with winds made water
freeze. The new index accounts for the wind effects at face level
and a better calculation for body heat loss. For example, under
the old index system, a temperature of 20 degrees with a 15 mph
wind translated into a reading of five degrees below zero. The
new index calculation would translate the same conditions to six
degrees above zero.
The new index is based on the following factors:
Wind speed calculated at the average height of the human face,
about five feet (the human face is most often exposed to the cold).
Updated heat transfer theory, which factors heat loss from the
body to its surroundings during cold, windy days.
A consistent standard for skin tissue resistance.
Clear night sky conditions.
A lowered calm wind threshold from four miles to three miles.

Webmistress note: it is a major pain to make
a table out of this when you can go to the above web site and
print the whole chart in lovely colors if you wish. Sorry -...

The National Weather Service in Missoula will issue a Wind
Chill Advisory when wind chills are expected to reach 10 degrees
below zero. A Wind Chill Warning will be issued when wind chills
are expected to be 20 degrees below zero or less.
Further Information: The web link NWS Office of Climate, Water,
and Weather Services includes a Wind Chill Calculator.